Ep.20 The Facts, Fiction & COVID Conspiracies with Dr Naveed Syed and Dr Imran Waheed
Trust in politicians, East and West, is at an all-time low. The coronavirus pandemic didn’t begin this suspicion, rather it no more than unearthed a deep-rooted feeling that governments are hiding something and not telling us the entire truth. In this era of social mistrust, a vacuum has opened up and has been filled with so-called social media experts, that use and abuse statistics and present alternative facts to the public. Of course, in general, everyone has the right to present expertise and knowledge and this is a position Islam and our history confirms.
However, what is pronounced today is the increase of non-experts that forward their views and gain an audience upon conspiracy theories and half-baked truths. Social media has allowed non-specialists to have a disproportionate voice – forwarding conspiracy theories and unverified facts.
This week we explore the facts and the fiction that pervades the knowledge space with Muslim experts that offer their knowledge and analysis on our current situation. I would suggest this suspicion of expertise and the irrational response to all information damages the mind of the Muslim community, it opens us up to be vulnerable to political actors like Russia and China but also the United States that wishes to sow confusion and disunity within our ranks.
My first guest is Dr Naveed Syed, who is a senior public health specialist working for Public Health England. He has spent the past 18 months seconded to Pakistan, helping to enhance their public health readiness for crises just like the one we are witnessing. Naveed is speaking to us in a personal capacity. We ask him about the facts of the virus and what we know so far about its origins.
My second guest, Dr Imran Waheed, a psychiatrist and medical doctor critiques some of the conspiracy theories and half-baked proposals currently doing the rounds.
We look at the origins of COVID-19, the means of transmission, the herd immunity theory, flu statistics, verification of news, Facebook 'experts', annual death rates, government failures, the mental health implications, Jumuah fatawa (and poor scholarship), Toby Young, 5G conspiracies and prophetic treatments.